


The Manual

by Penny32



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penny32/pseuds/Penny32
Summary: Kagome, Shippou’s instinctive mother, decides that she has had enough of trying to figure out the intricacies of the youkai language on her own. As such, she requires a teacher. S/K
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru
Comments: 8
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

1: Sensei?

Kagome felt her heart break as sadness filled her little kitsune’s bright green eyes yet again because of something she had unknowingly done. He had asked her for a treat. She had refused- he’d already had two and certainly didn’t need more sugar before bed; and, of course, she had gone about it the wrong way. His tail flopped, he looked down and went to Miroku for some hair patting. 

Behind her, someone snorted, high-pitched, obnoxious and the re-focus of her sudden ire. She whirled around, blue eyes flashing at the little green imp, her jeans whispering with the suddenness of her movement. “Jaken!” her shout rang out in the clearing. “Enough of your snide, under-breath commentary! If you truly believe me so incompetent then perhaps you should enlighten me as to what is the correct way of doing things.” 

“Ask.” The little imp’s bulbous eyes were glittering with arrogance and it was all Kagome could do to hold herself back from kicking him skyward like his praised Master. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her group and the imp’s group watching their interaction wide-eyed. Her little kit had something that looked very much like hope shining in his eyes. His gaze lowered as soon as she turned to look at him fully and she swallowed hard before turning back to the contemptuous toad youkai. 

“Please, teach me what I am doing wrong, Jaken-san.” She added the honorific, somehow managing to make it sound respectful and not mocking. After all, if he did help her in understanding her kit, she would owe him. 

To her surprise, he merely threw a scroll at her from the sleeve of his robe. “My people are the praised scholars of the Youkai Courts. The scroll was written by my great-uncle. There will be another when you are finished with the first.” 

Blinking, Kagome looked up to find him glaring at her. She bowed abruptly, holding the scroll close. She did not say thank you- it was a subservient gesture in this era; but, when she rose she saw the first glimmer of respect in the imp’s eyes. 

Behind him, his Master turned away from the scene, resting a hand briefly on his ward’s sleeping head before disappearing into the blackness of the forest. Kagome turned to the fire and unraveled the scroll, gathering her kit and placing him in her lap so that he could learn too.


	2. Chapter 2

2: To calm or soothe

Shippou woke gasping, the embers from the fire glinting red-gold in the dark pupils of his eyes. He stared sightlessly at her, still caught in the terror of his dreams. 

Pushing the messy strands of her sleep-tangled hair back, Kagome pulled him to her quietly, humming softly, monotonously. He melted immediately, tears heating her neck and soaking into her tank top, running down her neck. She pulled the bow from the nape of his neck, tossing it away and ran her fingers through his hair, continuing the low, husky sound in her throat. It radiated out from her chest and into her kit, her aura lightening his, twining around the frenzied, flickering curls of fire that embodied his power. 

Slowly, Shippou fell back to sleep, paws curled around her, tail wrapped around her arm. Smiling sleepily, she missed the slight approval in the eyes of the night’s sentry, missed the appreciative glance from sun-stroked golden irises set over high, striped cheeks. 

Sesshoumaru, famed Taiyoukai of the Western Lands, watched the young woman cradle her orphan kitsune to her chest, heard her soothing purr fade to stillness in the night. He looked away after a long moment, wondering how the odd pairing of miko and kitsune had come to be. She was a priestess and far too young to have heard the wisdom of the old stories. 

The stories of long ago when their peoples had not been enemies but had instead lived together, carving out homes and cities from the wilderness, helping, not hurting, one another. A movement had risen between two lords, one recruited all peoples, one the most powerful of youkai; and, so, hatred was born in the death of the two sides, propagated by blood. Now, centuries later, their peoples still hunted one another mercilessly. Eventually, one or the other would become extinct. 

The human and youkai lords all knew that was the way of things. The ending seemed inevitable even though all knew that the cost of such a war was too great for the world to bear. Still, they had resigned themselves- the last of the secret councils filled with an underlying despair. 

Even he had decided to give up that particular fight. Then, in his quest to finish Naraku, he had joined his brother’s group and had found the priestess and her kit. 

His eyes returned to the pair once more and wondered if they knew they had rekindled a long-forgotten hope.


	3. Chapter 3

3: To Praise

Shippou had been peeking at her all day, his tail slowly beginning to fluff down from the excited poof it had been earlier that morning. Her blue eyes narrowed on her red-headed kit thoughtfully before she pulled out the small scroll she had been studying every evening. She read while walking, knowing her erstwhile and often irritating group leader would not let them stop for something so trivial as reading. 

Sighing, she focused on the kanji before her, slowly learning the intricacies of this older style. Her appreciation for Jaken-san’s family grew the more she studied the scroll. The work was fabulous, a true example of the art of her people’s literacy and she would have complimented it had the little imp been even slightly more tolerable to be around. His constant screeching at the children would grate on everyone’s nerves- even the Master whose iron calm was so renowned. 

There, she paused in her steps just slightly, causing the two-headed dragon trodding behind her to snort in momentary confusion. Kirara hissed at the white-gold beast, flashing fangs, in her annoyance. The dragon growled softly, tail lashing before his owner and the cat’s owner separated them. 

Kagome remained oblivious as she learned the source of her kit’s loss of happiness. Grinning, she carefully rolled up the paper and tucked it into the case she had for it in her bag. “Shippou?” she called him to her cheerfully, cuddling him when he jumped onto her shoulder. 

He giggled, wrapping his arms around her head. “Yes, haha-hue?” 

In response, Kagome reached up and brought him to rest beneath her chin, rubbing behind his ears easily. Shippou squeaked, very much like a mouse, and bounced up, eyes shining. 

He hugged her around the neck, his tail wagging so hard it hit her on the arm repeatedly. She laughed in response, blue eyes sparkling and drawing the gaze of the silver-haired Taiyoukai paces away. “You did very well earlier, Shippou, when learning the flame spell from Jaken-san.” 

Unbeknownst to the happy pair, the Taiyoukai’s eyes crinkled at the corners, something warm flashing in his gaze. Beside him, Rin watched, slightly envious. She looked up at her guardian and bit her bottom lip before tentatively reaching out and grasping his sash, knowing that he liked his hands free. 

He had told her once that he needed it to draw his sword, to protect them, should the need arise. Since that first rejection, she hadn’t thought to touch her guardian again and she hadn’t realized she become so lonely until they had joined Shippou and Kagome-sama. 

Brown eyes wide and cautious, she peeked up at Sesshoumaru-sama only to find herself getting a gentle pat on the head. A smile quirked the side of his mouth for a hair’s breadth of time before it was gone, his demeanor once more blank. 

Still, she had seen it. Her hand tightened on his sash. She beamed. 

Behind them, Jaken grumbled. 

~*~


End file.
